Dead And Walking: Beginnings
by themountainswan
Summary: *This is my first FanFic, so don't pin me with needles and other pointy things* Karkat gets bored one day, and decides to make a band. Where this goes, well, it all just depends on how soon fame kicks in. Humanstuck! Bandstuck! M for language/violence/and a lot of other things. Basically, M for a reason. (Homestuck belongs to Andrew Hussie, not me)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note 3 (Sorry, wrote this one after future ones): But so, AaaaAaAAah, I forgot to say that they were all like 21 basically. That is pretty much all I wanted to say with this, and to everyone starting to read this. It gets better. Trust me. **

**-themountainswan**

* * *

**Karkat: Make a Band**

"There, finally fucking done." I put down my pencil and ran my hand through my hair, looking at the finished product. It was a poster for the band I wanted to start, "D.A.W." or Dead and Walking. I still don't know why that name struck me as good at all, but I figured I'd stick with it anyways, no matter how god damn awful it sounded. Now all that was left was to actually get members for the band, a drummer, a pianist, and someone to do synthesizer. I had vocals and guitar covered, and if anyone had anything to say about it, they could fuck right out of the band.

I rolled my chair over to my laptop, messaging whoever I thought would be useful. And after a few hours of heavy 'convincing' on multiple ends, I finally had an audition set up for each of the parts. I stretched and leaned back on my chair, yawning and letting my eyes rest. The people auditioning were either my "friends" or people they knew, to keep numbers short. It was supposed to be tomorrow, relatively early in the day at an auditorium that someone's dad knew? It was so god damn complicated that I just didn't care at that point, as long as everyone would be there. I had to see something other than my room, so I got up from my chair and left my house.

It wasn't hard to leave my house and go somewhere whenever I wanted, after my brother left for college and my dad decided that everyone else was more important than me. He would just be out for weeks, months, sometimes a year. But who needs a dad anyways? I'm doing just fine without him being here, he just pays the bills. Easy living. Even though he was gone, and has been for years and years, my dad still made his presence known by always trying to give me something to compensate for his absence.

It never worked.

But, since I once said that I liked music kind of, he started getting me instruments and the stuff that would make it possible for me to start a band, and that brought me to that day. I had more equipment than most bands did at the time, so it was kind of a disgrace not to use it. He promised he'd teach me how to play some of them one day…ugh, there I went again. I just needed to focus on something else, so I walked down to the music store to see what kind of stuff they had, and see what I could get. Even though it was always packed, and I would end up flipping out at someone for some reason that seems to always be theirs, it was more home than my house was. Speaking of that, here came the owner of the shop, Mr. Hussie.

"Ah, Karkat, what a surprise to see you here!" He says jokingly, walking out from behind the counter to greet him. I grunted and said "Anything new?" with kind of a melancholy tone. I knew he could hear that it was more than my usual pissed off voice from the expression on his face, and he grabbed my shoulder lightly. "Yeah, I actually do, I'll show you" he said, walking me over to the guitars and microphones. That never failed to pick me up, if all else did. I was kind of proud of my voice, although others seemed to be a lot more proud of it. It was one of the only things I had right now, and knowing that I had it just felt good when I belted into one of those mics. After a while, Hussie looked at me with a sparkle and said "Hey, I got somethin' just for you."

"For me?" I asked, but he didn't answer and pushed me through a few doorways to get to a candy red guitar with black lines spreading all across the front of it. I ran over to it and felt it, feeling everything about it. "Jesus Christ, you must have sold your fucking soul for this!" "Not really, built it myself. I knew you were feeling kind of down for a while, so I made this for you. Free of charge."

My heart nearly dropped once he said that "N-no, I don't do charity. This is way too much, there's no way in hell I'm taking this off you for free." He smirked and sighed lightly. "Then it'll stay here, come and get it when you need it." I could feel my emotions flowing within me and I stood up and sniffled "Thanks…thank you so much." "Don't mention it, kid. I won't sell it unless it's to you, I promise."

I quickly left the store to avoid being emotional and walked out of the shop. I didn't even realize how many hours I sunk into that place until I saw that it was dark out. Seemed like minutes to me. Either way, I figured I should probably head "home" now. After all, there was a lot of shit that had to get done and no one else was going to do it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Karkat: Get Band Members**

"ALRIGHT, FIRST UP IS THE DRUMMER AUDITIONS, SO ANYONE WHO'S NOT DRUMMING, GET OFF THE FUCKING STAGE!" I yelled at the stage of people, and the group slowly faded to a good number of people. Gamzee, Jade, Equius and people I didn't know were all staring down at me while I chewed on my pencil and looking at the group.

I let out a little grunt and started calling names alphabetically, each one progressively making me even angrier as time went on. They all just seemed to suck and had no reason being up there, even if my requirement was hard songs. I only wanted the best of these idiots.

"JADE HARELY, JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE PLAYING AND DO IT." My pencil was practically a twig at one end at this point, and I went from relaxing to almost yanking my hair out when I called her name. She giggled and stood up straight, "Alrighty, well, I'm doing Hot for Teacher by Van Halen, and I hope you like it!" Her happiness was certainly something else.

She ran back to the drum set we had prepped and I fake smiled when she was there. "I swear to fucking god, I'm never going to find a single person worth someth" I was cut off by the sounds off toms and base pedals going in perfect harmony, and my head slowly raised and my eyes widened.

She could sure play the shit out of those drums.

"So? How did I do?" She said, standing and holding the sticks in front of her after playing probably the most accurate version of that song I've ever heard. "Uh…well, pretty well, actually." I didn't want to give her too much credit, because if I found someone else I'd have to recant all my statements, and that wasn't something I ever did.

I circled her name, and then yelled "NEXT" and then the next person came on. Then the next. Aaaand the next. "DO ANY OF YOU *ACTUALLY* LISTEN TO YOURSELVES SOMETIMES?" I yelled out, unable to hold it back. "FUCKING NEEEEXT, GET OFF THE DAMN STAGE" and the kid walked away with his head hung.

"GAMZEE MAKARA, SONG AND PERFORMANCE" He walked up with his slouch and eventually made his way to the middle of the stage saying "Bro, no need for all these fuckin' formalities, just Gamzee works for me" with that big goofy smile on his face. "SONG. AND. PERFORMANCE, SHIT LORD." He simply shrugged and continued "I'll be up and performing Purple Haze by who better than the big and bad miracle known as Bob Marley." That caused me to face-palm hard enough that he could probably hear it up on stage, because he was so OBVIOUSLY a stoner that it was sheer insanity.

He made his way back behind the drum set and slumped behind it, quickly starting up. He actually wasn't as bad as I thought he would be, but I was still awe struck by Jade's performance so it just seemed not as good. So once he was finished, he looked over at me "How did I do, Karbro?" "DON'T, CALL ME THAT. AND YOU DID FINE-ISH, NEXT." He kind of frowned, but he instantly perked back up and walked off the stage.

It was just a bad trip from then, no pun intended. There was a serious downgrade in talent after that, including Equius, and it's lucky that his last name had a Z because he busted the fucking set and the sticks. So no one wanted to play with a broken set, and especially one with so much sweat all over it.

I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock; it'd been about 40 minutes. That's 40 minutes, just gone. Poof. "ALRIGHT, NEXT IS THE PIANO TRY OUTS, SO UNLESS YOU'RE PLAYING, GO AWAY." And sure enough, everyone listened again until there was 3 people up on the stage; John, Eridan, and Nepeta. This, was going to be interesting.

It at least would be a lot shorter than that drummer audition. "ERIDAN AMPORA, SONG AND PERFORMANCE" I yelled out, writing down his name first and looking up at him to hear his song. He didn't say anything, for a while. "ERIDAN, WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR MALFUNCTION, I SAID SONG AND PERFORMANCE."

"I get stage fright…"

"THEN WHY, THE FUCK, ARE YOU AUDITIONING TO BE IN A BAND WHERE WE WILL PROBABLY PLAY IN FRONT OF PEOPLE?" He then mumbled something, and I slammed on the table "AMPORA, YOU HAVE 3 SECONDS BEFORE I CALL WHOEVER'S NEXT UP." He didn't respond, so I stayed true to my word and called next. He glared at me before storming off, and I simply just said "JOHN EGBERT, SONG AND PERFORMANCE." It was his fault, not mine. Probably. Either way, John eventually made it up to the stage and smiled his smile with his grin that seemed to take up his entire face.

"Hey Karkat! Oh, right, I wanted to actually do a song that I wrote, if that's not a problem."

"SURE WHATEVER, AS LONG AS IT'S NOT SHIT."

He chuckled and said something about my comments, and I coughed loudly to let him know I could kind of hear him. He instantly flushed red, but put his papers on the stand of the piano regardless. I shake my head and cross my arms, leaning back and listening to him play his piece. It actually was…really good. Like, he was really good. I had to give him props, he really knew what he was doing. Not vocally, mentally. I would know that I might kind of respect his musicianship.

Once he was finished he actually got a small applause from some people, which I quickly quieted down. I pretended to write notes and grumble, just as intimidation, and then said "GOOD JOB. NEXT." He looked kind of off put, but he nodded and walked off the stage. I looked at my clip board and grumbled when I saw the name. She ran up into the middle of the stage and damn near vibrated there waiting for me to call her name out.

"UGH…NEPETA LEIJON, SONG AND PERFORMANCE."

"Oh boy! Okay, the song I chose was this one from a YouTube video I saw a couple days ago!" She ran to the piano and leaned over it. Then, she began playing the Keyboard Cat song. "Are you fucking kidding me." I mumbled out, rubbing my temples as she played it as slow as possible with Equius cheering her on. I painfully waited for it to be over, after opening my mouth to say next and seeing Equius staring directly at me. He may have a soft voice, but that fucker's huge.

With Equius at my back, I put on a big smile and said through grit teeth "YOU DID GREAT, NEPETA. WE'LL TELL YOU IF YOU GOT IT." She jumped around in happiness and ran off stage. Equius followed soon after, and that was when I realized Equius probably didn't even know how or even wanted to play drums, Nepeta just made him come. Those two were the weirdest people I've ever seen, and I would have no problems crossing them off my list of possible candidates.

"ALRIGHT, LAST UP IS SOMEONE WHO CAN WORK A SYNTHESIZER OR SOME SORT OF ELECTRONIC BULL SHIT, ANYONE WHO CAN'T. YOU KNOW THE DRILL." Everyone cleared the stage, except of course, for Dave Strider. I smacked my head against my clip board, as he smirked wildly. I was at least expecting Sollux to be here. "Sup." He looked side to side and somehow managed to make his smirk even bigger. "Looks like I got the part" I would have said something, but to my dismay, he was right. This was all I had.

"Come on, say it."

"I'M NOT SAYING IT."

"Just say it!"

"FUCK OFF STIDER."

"You better or I'm walking this sweet ass right out those doors."

After a lot of noises of protest and thinking of other options, I yelled "FUCKING. FINE. DAVE STRIDER'S OUR NEW GOD DAMN SYNTHESIZER PLAYER, ALRIGHT." He threw up his arms in victory, and then fixed his shades before chuckling and saying "Thanks, kit-kat, call me when we have practice." He then stuck his hands in his pockets and walked out the exit. I felt defeated and tired, and I just wanted to go sleep or something. I laid back and dropped the clip board on my face and started to doze off, when I realized…

There was still a lot of people here.

I leaned back up and looked around "What the hell are you all still doing here? Synth was the last thing I needed, if you wanted to audition you're too late." I placed the board back on my head when it was suddenly smacked off my face. I stood up and let my mouth go "ALRIGHT, WHO IN THE EVERLOVING FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO DO…great, it's you."

Standing over me, smirking with her arms crossed was none other than Vriska Serket, the one person I was happy I didn't see that day. At least, for a little while.

"Karkat, aren't you forgetting something?" She said with a sarcastic tone in her voice that almost made me want to shiver. "Hmm, let's see, well I was until annoying bitch who ruins everything showed up, so now that you've checked in, if you could leave that would be so perfect." She laughed and almost threw her head back during it. I swear, she'd probably turn into an old widow and try to give me a fucking poison apple if she had the chance.

"Good one, really, bravo! But what I meant was the vocal and guitarist try outs. That's what everyone here is waiting for, and you haven't called it yet." It was my turn to laugh now "HAHAHAHA, no. I didn't forget that, I'M going to do the vocals and guitar part for MY band, this was CLEARLY stated in the message. Or did you forget how to read halfway through it?" Yeah, it was harsh. But that's life.

"Listen, shorty. I didn't drag my ass down here to listen to you rant your fucking mouth off, alright? So how about you just sit down and get someone who can ACTUALLY sing?" She said, shoving me into my chair. I was shocked, oddly enough, and I felt a new rage split open in me. "Vriska, how about you listen? Here's the deal. This is my audition, I do what I want, and I DEFINITELY don't want you and your bitchy mouth in my band, so just get your stupid ass out of here, before I bust your face open."

She was obviously thinking about doing something, but she knew that making more enemies wouldn't help her. I mean, everyone already pretty much hated her. God knows I did. "Fine, I'll leave. But if you think, this is going to be the last you hear of me, Vantas…you have another thing coming." She then flipped her hair and told everyone to leave, making sure to glare at me before she slammed the door shut. Something about the way she said it made it seem like a bit more than just a simple payback. It was never easy with her.

I breathed out heavily, finally realizing I had butterflies in my stomach and I was almost shaking violently. I didn't want to risk leaving, so I simply curled up into a ball on the chair, and tried to get some sleep. For some reason, I wanted to cry. Maybe she just snapped the small wire holding me together, I didn't know. All I knew is that I wanted to just, break down. Did I know that there were still some people left who were watching me sit there and battle tears? No. Would I have cared?

Nope.


	3. Chapter 3

**Karkat: Host a Band Meeting**

It took a lot of prodding and a lot of bullshit from everyone who I accepted as band members, but I finally got a meeting going. It was going to be at the music store at 3, in a private room that Hussie gave to them. Now it was time for an interesting debate between them all, deciding what they would do. Once everyone finally arrived, I sat on a table and looked over them all.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, we got a lot of shit to talk about. Our biggest one right now, is are we going to be a cover band, or we write our own songs band?" John was the first one to speak up, saying "Well, I've been writing my own music for a while, so we have a lot to go off of if we go that way!" Dave scoffed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, but all your shits classical powdered wig crap. We need something more modern, and I know just the thing." He then held up a CD labeled "Dave's Sick-Ass Beats". How classy.

I protested instantly "No, we are not doing the machine ear fuck you call music, Strider. I say we do rock music, you know, heavy shit. Not all this other garbage." "Oh, and who made you queen of music, shortstack?" Jade smacked Dave lightly for saying that, obviously not having any of that. She knew how I was about my height. "The same person that made ME leader of the band, ass wipe!" Jade stood up now, and yelled "Hey!" but she was quickly drowned out by Dave and I going at it.

"We haven't determined that yet, for all we know you could be the weakest link."

"Oh yeah? You didn't even get in by skill, you got in by default, fuck head, no one showed for that part."

"Why do you think no one showed up? Because everyone fucking despises you and your shit attitude!"

With each sentence, we were getting closer and closer until we were feet away from each other and then, out of nowhere "THAT IS ENOUGH!" Jade screamed, as a searing pain hit into my skull. I looked up and saw she hit both of us with her drum sticks, and she was seething. "Both of you stop! It's not even 5 minutes into our first meeting, and you two are at each other's throats! How about you stop fighting so we can get this sorted out?"

It was obviously rhetorical, but we both said whatever and went back to our respective spots. Mainly because that hurt, but still. I rubbed the spot where she hit me, and continued "So…cover band for now then?" It was a group consensus now, as if to avoid another fight between people. "We'll pick the songs later, I guess."

"What's gonna be our band name?" Jade asked, turning her head slightly. Then, John and Dave started throwing out names like crazy, all of them kind of sounding good, but my original idea was kind of my favorite. So I decided to speak my mind "What about Dead And Walking?"

Then, silence.

"What?" Dave asked, sticking his head out a little at me. I kinda shrugged into my sweater, trying to keep my confidence. "Dead And Walking." Everyone stopped and just stared at me "W-what? Am I growing another head or something?"

"Dude. That's actually not bad! I mean, it kinda sucks, but it's an ironic sucking, so it's fine." I groaned at his mention of irony, but took the complement as it was. John spoke up next "Yeah, Dave's kind of right, it's a really good idea!" Then, Jade "I agree!"

"Then I guess it's settled, that's our band name." I said, relieved it went that easily. "Yep! Dead And Walking, a new cover band" Jade said, clapping happily. "You mean, the *best* new cover band." I smirked slightly as everyone started talking about every little detail. It was a nice feeling, that I may have done something right. And I wanted to keep it like that. "Alright, everyone think of some songs you want the band to learn, and write them here."

Everyone agreed with the idea, and everyone put down 2-5 songs. Easy enough. I took the list and wrote it 3 more times, handing each out to every member of the band. "So just make sure you learn at least some of these songs, and we'll meet up in a few weeks." That seemed good with everyone, and we simply talked and talked about this band for hours. It was one of the first things I'd ever seen where I actually believed something good might come of this. Something that made me proud to be, well, me.

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**Author's Note: First try at this, I guess! I figured I'd put it here instead of at the beginning because I might take a little longer for the next few chapters. Yes, I know, this chapter absolutely sucked. And the one before it kind of. And especially the first one. This entire thing kind of blows so far, alright. But still, I plan on it getting better as time goes on, because I'm going to time skip now to after they learn a few songs and shiz, it'll be radical.**

**Basically, this story will pick up the pace fast. This was just exposition and a very small amount of character development, with a touch of foreshadowing. I plan on making this a very long fic, with many sequels to come in the future (like three). But I'm sorry for any slowness in updating, even though I doubt anyone's following this as of now, it'll get better! Just give this snowball some chance to gather it's girth**

**-themountainswan**


	4. Chapter 4

**Karkat: Land Your First Gig**

I placed the last staple on the poster we made a while back, and crossed my arms into my sweater in victory. It had Dead And Walking on it, with some art that was "Strider-Certified" . Most importantly, underneath the name was a sentence that read "BAND WILLING TO PLAY FOR FREE, SIMPLY CALL" and then there was my phone number. Now it was just a waiting game.

As I walked home, I couldn't help but reflect on the band as my hands found their way to my pockets. It was weird, how their first practice was 6 months ago. It seemed like days to me, not almost half a year. But even still, I wasn't complaining. Those weeks were a lot of work and a lot of time spent just fine tuning everything they thought was "Good enough". I didn't start this band for mediocrity. We encountered our first problem pretty quick, once we realized there wasn't a bassist.

But we also solved it rather quickly, because Strider said he could just make a base line that'll play under whatever song we needed, and while I was very skeptical about it, it turned out working just fine. Unfortunately, that was a temporary solution, because how the hell would we play any song with bass in it with a static bass line. It was working either way though, so it wasn't something I wanted to worry about. There was already too much shit filling up that space in my mind.

I walked back into my house, locking the door and calling out "I'M HOME" even though I knew it was pointless. I always left the door unlocked when I left because I figured people thought my dad still was here, at least I always talked about him like he was. I quickly ran upstairs to my room, and nearly screamed when I saw a note on my door.

I knew who it was from.

I grabbed it and read its contents; "Good luck with the band, champ. You have my sup-" it was all I could read before tearing it up and throwing it to the floor. My vision became like a tunnel and my air felt short, so I shoved my hand into my hair and tried to calm my breathing. I had mild anxiety, so this kind of thing was pretty normal with me, but he should have known I wouldn't have hopped into his arms going "Oh daddy, you DO love me?" so this was his fucking fault

But like I said, this was kind of a normal occurrence at that point, so it didn't really affect me as much as it probably should have. But it wasn't the time to worry about such trivial people/things; they were on the cusp of playing out somewhere so I wasn't going to let anyone get to me.

So I sat there, with my phone on my desk and me in a chair backwards resting my head on it. And that's how I spent the day. And the next.

And the next.

I was getting bored of this, and fast. It was kind of irritating to just sit and stare at a phone having that lurking suspicion that no one will call but still waiting anyways. It was already 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and it wasn't getting me anywhere.

So I got up and left my room, going into the kitchen and grabbing something to eat. There wasn't much food, but enough to make a sandwich or something, so that's what I did while making a mental note to go grocery shopping. As I sat there, mumbling and complaining with my mouth full, I could hear something. The feint buzzing of my phone.

"Shit!" I yelled out, dropping my sloppily made sandwich on the ground and sprinting up my stairs. "HANG ON!" I yelled, for some reason thinking it would make it to the mystery caller. When I made it to my room, I practically dived onto my phone and answered. "Hello?...Yes, this is them…We are fr-…Friday, 6:00?...Alright, we'll be there...Yes, we'll bring everything. Okay, got it." I hung up and the butterflies in my stomach started raging at the feeling flowing through me. They actually were going to play somewhere.

I sat down next to my keyboard and messaged the group chat I set up, and it read "ALRIGHT EVERYONE, I FINALLY LANDED US A JOB AT SOME SHIT'S BIRTHDAY PARTY. IT'S THIS FRIDAY AT 6 SO CLEAR UP YOUR SCHEDULES, NO EXCEPTIONS. IF WE DITCH OUR FIRST SHOT WE'LL LOOK LIKE FUCK HEADS AND I'M NOT A FUCK HEAD SO JUST SHOW UP AT THIS ADDRESS AND BE PREPARED TO PLAY A METRIC SHIT-TON."

I waited and saw the responses, and they more or less said they'd all be there along with Dave's comment "are you sure it's going to be a metric cause fuck that's insanity". It was weirdly satisfying to have him comment like that, and I found myself not really minding it like I used to. It was probably just an immunity to his incessant smart-ass comments.

But even still, Friday was 2 days from now. I had no idea how the hell I was going to spend those days until there was a ring that came from my computer. I curiously walked over to it and saw that it was a private message from Dave, instantly rolling my eyes and preparing for the worst. But when I opened it, it caught me completely off guard.

"hey vantas, theres some shit I want to work on for Friday, just you and I. you free tonight?" My jaw almost fell through the floor. No joke or insult, just a plain question on whether or not I wanted to work on things privately with him. This was new.

"STRIDER. I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF TRAIN PUMMELED INTO YOUR HEAD, BUT I THINK YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT YOU SENT ME AND CHECK IT FOR VALIDITY."

"nope I sent it correctly, I need to check some shit out and as the singer and ring leader kind of youre the person I need to check it with"

Did he just call me ring leader? What the hell was going on?

"OKAY WE CAN MEET AT THE NORMAL PRACTICE SPACE. AND I'LL BE SURE TO CHECK YOU FOR CONCUSSIONS OR ANY OTHER MENTAL DISORDER."

"do what you want bro, ill see you there"

And with that, I leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms. This perplexed me to new heights, because this was the first time he really sought me out without having some sort of strong words. So with a bit of reluctance and hesitation, I grabbed my keys and made my way down to the music store. I wasn't sure what this had in store for me, but knowing him, there was no way it was going to be good.

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**Author's Note 2: Welp, this might be going well! Apparently I'm getting more and more views (Which is kind of promising, yet also means not too much), and it's kinda motivating! Knowing people like your stuff is cool, and also, to those reading and not following, feel free to leave a review or message me because I'd love to hear your criticism or praise for this. I imagine there's going to be a lot more editing with these chapters, but I think it's going quite swimmingly. And for anyone reading this far, you the real MVP**

**(And in case you haven't noticed, these beginning parts are literally just me writing straight out of my ass)**

**But either way, I plan on updating a lot more and getting to the climactic end of the first part of this series (With other entries being a loooooooot longer) by 2-3 weeks from how I'm updating this thing. Depends on what I wanna add. I'll stop talking now. Lot's o love kiddos**

**-themountainswan**


	5. Chapter 5

**Karkat: Meet With Dave**

I was nervous. Why was I nervous for a simple band meeting? I don't think there is a single person on this earth who could answer that question. I pulled up to the store slowly at around 7, taking out my keys and exhaling loudly. My head was still swimming in possibilities as to why all this was happening, but then I added a new topic on things to think about; Why did I care so god damn much?

My thinking was cut short by a loud tapping on the passenger side car window, causing me to nearly jump through the roof of my car. I saw Strider standing there with a very small smile, and he already was making me want to lose it. I got out of my car, locking it before making my way over to him and pointing at him as angrily as I could. "Don' t you EVER fucking scare me like that again or I swear to god I'll tape you to the hood of my car and" I was once again cut short by him putting his hand over my mouth.

"Dude, chill. Just get inside."

He walked into the building and I simply stood there with my finger still pointing and my mouth open. Did. Did he just fucking shush me? It hadn't been more than 2 minutes and he already pissed me off, that must be a new record.

I stormed into the place and opened my mouth to say something, but he quickly said "Yeah yeah, Strider don't you dare touch me again or I'll blah blah blah, let's just do this." That shut me up pretty damn quick. I wasn't sure if I was more offended or surprised at the fact that he just knew what I was going to say. My face grew a bit hot as I followed behind him aimlessly, but something felt…off. I had no idea why I thought it, but everything seemed weird, malicious even.

We eventually made it into the practice room, and I was the first to talk "So, what is it you wanted to work on that required me?" He stayed silent, and that was when I realized he didn't have everything he needed to practice. "Strider?" Still nothing. "Earth to Dave, I'm trying to talk to you!" "Karkat" he started, staring right through me with his shades "I just wanted to talk to you about something I heard."

"Alright, so you lied to me, great I j-"

"Vantas. Let me speak."

I was about to let him have it with a slight glare at first, but then I saw his face, and it was glazed over with a look of seriousness, I sat down and let him talk. "I was down at a local pub, because I just go there a lot for drinks and gossip and shit, and there were some people talking about you. A lot." "So some people were talking about me, are they not fucking allowed to or something? " He looked slightly annoyed and I shut up once again. "You don't understand, they weren't just talking. They were, planning."

I stood there, not making any kind of connection to what he was saying. So he sighed and kept going "They were planning to hurt you, Karkat. There are people, who want to hurt you." My smugness fell right off my face the moment he finished speaking. Did he just say what I thought he said? "What? But...why?" "Well, judging from the fact that they were members of a cover band, I'm guessing it's because they don't want any competition. And they've heard you sing before and they know you're good enough to butt them out of the running" He paused after saying this, sighing and crossing his arms "..so they want you out."

"I...I don't believe you. I haven't done a damn thing yet, there's no way someone already wants me dead. Plus, why the hell do you care?" He shook his head, pushing up his shades. "Because I don't want you to get hurt, dumbass!" Hearing that made a warm feeling shoot through my body. It wasn't enough to counteract the obvious fear in my veins, but I'd be damned if I said it didn't help.

I let out a small laugh, looking straight ahead. Here came the irregular breathing again. "Well A-fucking-plus. Now people are trying to kick the shit out of me, maybe even kill me." He scratched the back of his neck, looking slightly next to me. "Okay, this is going to sound weird, but. I think you need someone to watch over you wherever you go." "Who would be willing to do that forever, that's right fucking no one..." Then, the silence and him chuckling a little bit gave it away "You? YOU want to protect me all the time everywhere I go like some mother watching over her fucking kids?"

"Yeah I do."

The bluntness of it set me down a few pegs, but I quickly recovered. "HA, no thanks! I can handle myself, alright? I don't need a guardian angel, and especially not one like you. This is just catching me off guard, that's all." Dave then bent down and looked me straight in the eyes "No, you can't handle this by yourself. We're talking at least 4 people, Karkat. Each one of them wants you out of the business, any way they can manage. I'm not letting you think you can take them all on. I can fight, and protect you so-"

"Well I'm so fucking sorry, Mom, but you don't get to decide that! I'm my own god damn person, and I can take a few ass holes who think they can just pull me out of this! And do you even have any proof that they're actually going to attack me?"

He bit his lip and hesitated. "Well…not really. But it's still good to be on the cautious side." I scoffed and put my hands at the floor, starting to stand up "Listen to what I'm saying!" He pleaded, his normally neutral face frowning slightly "They can strike whenever you least expect it, be it on the street or even in your home."

"Yeah well we'll see if they've got the balls. And when did you suddenly start giving a fuck about my well-being?" I stood up from my position and walked out of the practice room. I heard him mumble under his breath and then run after me. "Karkat, wait. At least take my phone number, okay?" I turned, annoyed as hell at him. But it was obvious this was the least I was going to be able to do to get him off my back. "Fucking, fine. Just write it on my hand or something."

He sighed and grabbed a Sharpie, writing down his number on the back of my hand. "Great, thanks. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some actual shit to do, by myself." I turned to leave, when he grabbed my arm. I turned and began to yell when he said in a soft voice "Be careful." My voice caught in my throat, but I yanked out of his grip with a scowl and left the shop. I got into my car and looked over at the entrance, and there was Dave, watching me. If it wasn't weirdly comforting, I would have been telling him t-...wait what the hell was I thinking?

I simply coughed a bit, and pulled out of the parking space, driving back to my house. I was weirdly angry at him, and I wasn't sure if it was the fact that he scared the shit out of me or he just began to be kind of a friend out of the blue. Either way, I was pissed and all I wanted to do was go to sleep till Friday.

I eventually made it back to my driveway, slowly stopping once I made it in all the way. I pulled out my keys and saw Dave's number on my hand. I instantly started up talking to myself "Fucking asshole, telling me I can't take care of myself. What the hell does he know?" But for some reason, I took out my phone and created a new contact with Dave's number in it. Maybe I was actually scared, maybe it was cause I wanted him in my phone, I had no clue, I did it anyways.

Afterwards, I got out of my car and walked to my front door, absolutely exhausted. I grabbed the doorknob and was about to turn it, when it opened just by pushing it. Something was wrong. I opened it all the way and walked in, my heart almost thumping out of my chest when I stepped into the suffocating blackness of my house. "Hello?" I called out softly, hoping desperately no one would respond this time. My tongue started turning into a cinder block, and I began shaking again. My eyes squinted to see anyone, while my ears carefully listened to hear anything, or one, in there with me. To say I was scared then was an understatement.

After a few seconds of complete silence and stillness, my shoulders slowly began to slump from their raised and tense position. I exhaled softly, speaking out loud. "It's just Strider getting to you, that son of a bitch. Nothing's wrong." Then, the door slammed shut, and I heard it lock in the darkness. "Welcome back, honey" said a gritty voice behind me. I could hear the horrible grin in his voice and Dave's words flashed in my head; "They can strike whenever you least expect it, be it on the street or even in your home."

"…_even in your home"_

The only words I could get out of my now baren mouth was

"Fuck."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note 4: Pretty much just a trigger warning for violence, so if you're not into that, this update is pretty much useless. But if you do like the violence, here's your present!  
**

**-themountainswan**

* * *

**Karkat: Be Scared As Fuck**

_Why did I leave my door unlocked?_

Someone grabbed my arms in the middle of my thought and held them tightly against my back, not allowing me to move them at all. "LET GO OF ME!" I yelled to no avail, kicking and grunting to get out of his grip. But with a simple yank on my arm, pain shot through my shoulder and I cringed at it, falling to my knees. I was about to get up and struggle when a hand roughly grabbed my shoulder. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" said a horribly off putting male. My eyes widened at the threat and I simply sat there, practically petrified. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I yelled at the darkness, unsure of where to even direct my voice.

"Nothing's wrong with me. I'm just a man trying to keep his reputation. But just for your sake, I'll fill you in on why I'm here and why you're on the floor. See, we're a cover band around here, Accentuated Euphoria. I'm sure you've heard of us." And he was wrong, I had never heard of them once before, and I couldn't stop myself from talking "Some cover band…I've never heard of y" a loud crack and a searing pain made my sentence falter as my head flew to the right.

"If you could wait a minute before opening your trap, you will." My head slowly rolled back to it's neutral position, as I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Now, one of our members was at Hussie's music store when he heard your voice. Said it was pretty top notch, in fact, maybe even better than mine" he said bitterly, grabbing back onto my shoulder and squeezing it as hard as he could, causing me to grunt and clamp my teeth together.

"But" he abruptly let go of my shoulder, walking around me "obviously there will be people better than me, I respect that. What I DON'T respect, is people trying to get more fame than me. And a little birdy told me that you landed a gig with one of the most influential people in this entire fucking town!"

Influential people? Wasn't it just some little kid's birthday party? "Mind telling me who told you so I can go sort this thing out, because I honestly think you're absolutely insane at this point." He chuckled and exhaled softly "You really don't know how to shut up, do you…no matter. We'll get that fixed soon enough." The security in his voice sent a shiver up my spine, and I managed to quell my words.

"Back on topic," he said examining things around my house from what I could hear. "while it would mean a good thing if you showed and played, it'd also be an enormous failure if you didn't show." This caused him to chuckle for a little, before continuing "And that's what you're going to do."

"Fucking fine, I won't go to this gig if you just leave me the fuck alone you prick!" "I can't take your word for that. So I'm taking this into my own hands, and I'm going to make sure you don't make it to that party. I've got plans for you, don't you worry." "And I take it you're going to enlighten me on this fascinating bullshit?"

He walked over to me and grabbed my jaw roughly, looking straight at me and giving me a clear look at his eyes. They were glossed over…and pretty damn frightening. He smelled horrible, and the feeling of his hands on me made me want to vomit. "Yes I am."

I must have been spending too much time around Dave, because I just went full smart-ass. "Well can we make this quick? I have a lot of shit to do, and not a lot of time to do it." "If you don't shut your fucking mouth, you're never going to be able to do anything again besides talk to your creator."

My light smirk dropped once he said that, this just got a lot more serious. "Listen, fuck head. I don't know who you're talking about, but my band literally JUST got its first job. We're playing at a birthday party, not a damn playboy mansion, so before you go through with this absolutely brain dead plan, make sure you even have the right guy!"

The guy who grabbed my arms spoke up now "Yeah, maybe he's right. This guys nothing right now, all he's got is a good voice. Let's just make sure that he doesn't spill anything or go to that party and then that'll be the end of it." "You can't honestly tell me you're believing what he's saying! And from what I've heard, his stubborn as fuck personality is going to get him to that party anyways" he was probably right "so how about we stick to the fucking plan and break a few bones?"

_That's it, keep fighting._ I thought to myself, reaching into my pocket and desperately trying to find the dial button on my phone. I never closed out of Dave's contact information, so if I could just hit the call button, it'll patch me right to him and maybe I wouldn't be fucked. _Ugh, god dammit! Where the hell is this fucking button?_

Then, as if all the luck just spirit bombed its way right into me, I could feel the bump over the button I was looking for. I instantly pressed it, feeling very smug with myself, until the dialing sounds rang out causing a silence from their before constant bickering. I hung my head down, whispering "Fuck…" as they started feeling around my body.

They found the kind of cheap phone and pulled it out of my pocket, while I could hear Dave going "Hello? Who is this?" in the near distance. Out of desperation, I yelled out to the phone. "Dave! It's Karkat, I'm" the obvious ringleader then crushed the phone, throwing it against the ground. "Hey! I hope you're ready to pay for that, asshole!"

"Well well well, look who thinks they're sly! I was thinking of letting you go free, but now…now I've got to make my point. Right here, right now." And with that, a burst of pain crashed into my head like a car and I was knocked right out of the guy behind me's grasp. Then, someone grabbed the collar of my sweater, pulling me up and causing me to brace for some sort of pain when "Wait…"

"Tie him down here." Said the man I now figured was their leader, as I was thrown into some sort of chair. I got up off of it and threw a punch at the air, hitting nothing, and then getting the wind knocked out of me by a knee. At that point, throwing me back onto the chair was probably the easiest thing to do all night. Then, I could feel something being tied around my wrists after my arms were pulled roughly behind the chair. My ankles were tied next, and suddenly I was absolutely helpless. "If I get out of this…all of you fuckers are dead meat, you understand that, right?" I said through my attempt to gather air back. Everyone except me laughed, and I gathered that there were more than just the two people here now. Probably the entire band.

"Alright, everyone shut up. Now, since Karkat here has an absolutely dreadful attitude, I say we make this as painful as possible. Just to break that smug mouth of his." With that, my breathing became increased again and there was the trembling. But like hell I was going to show I was scared. "H-Heh…if you think you're going to break me, you've got another thing coming shit lords. So bring it!" "With pleasure" said a female voice this time. All I could hear was movement in the air before pain blossomed on the left side of my jaw. My head was thrown to my right and the chair almost fell over from the blow. Before I could even refocus, another punch was sent to the right side of my jaw, sending me the other way.

And from then on, it was just pain.

It would be a punch first, then a kick to my stomach, then an elbow across my cheek, stomach, face, face and so on. I cried out, yelling "HELP!" or "JUST FUCKING STOP ALREADY!" to no avail. Pain became the only feeling I recognized shortly after this assault began. My body was flinching in every direction as everything hurt more and more when the hits just kept coming. And the only thing I could think of was _Dave could have been here. _

_Dave could have saved your sorry ass, but you had to ignore him. _

_Now you're going to die without a single thing to your name. _

I probably would have questioned why I was thinking about Dave so much if my brain wasn't a pile of mush at the time.

My vision began getting blurry for the brief times where I was able to see, and I could feel a warm, thick liquid drip from my nose and mouth, slowly realizing the seriousness of this situation. But just as I thought that, the pain stopped and I began coughing horribly. "I think he's had enough, let's just go now" said someone.

Everyone started agreeing, but I wasn't going to just sit here and take this. Out of anger and lack of control, I did the stupidest thing I could have done. I spat blindly at the group, and judging from the sounds of disgust, I hit someone. "Still has some bite left, huh? Well, let's just see what I can do about that."

I heard the sound of something being picked up, when someone walked over to me, grabbing my mouth and prying it open. "Someone hold his mouth open!" _Woah woah woah, what the fuck is this? _ No one moved at first, and he screamed "That wasn't a fucking question, now someone. Get. Over. Here." Obviously everyone wasn't on the same page as him, but they soon complied out of fear and held my teeth away from each other. I could then feel metal pushing into my mouth, and resting on my tongue. "Dude, this is pretty dark, I didn't sign up for th" "Shut up! Let me just do this already." I shut my eyes as tight as I could and whimpered softly, knowing how much it would hurt. _Why didn't I fucking listen._

But the sound of a door busting open made the foreign object leave my mouth, and the presence of people surrounding me faded. There was a click that caused light to flood my vision rapidly, catching me completely off guard. I quickly flinched from it, shutting my eyes and throwing my head down. It was then I realized I was crying uncontrollably, looking down at my pants covered in both blood and tears.

I tried to listen to what was happening, but the ringing in my ears made only a few grunts and yells audible. After a few minutes, I heard someone calling out for me. I reluctantly pulled my head up and barely managed to utter "I-….In here…" When I saw movement in front of me I looked up and saw Dave standing there, looking down at me with his fists covered in blood. I could have sworn I saw tears or something but, who knows what was really there.

He quickly made his way to the chair, kneeling behind me and undoing the ropes saying "Fuck fuck fuck, I'm so sorry Karkat, I should have went home with you" or something along those lines. The last thing I got out of my hoarse throat before I slipped out of reality was a scratchy apology and then, darkness seized me and pulled me under.


	7. Chapter 7

**Karkat: Wake Up Already**

I woke with a start, taking in a deep breath after my eyes flashed open. My body was aching horribly, and it seemed that every part of me from the waist up was on fire. I started leaning up, groaning through all the pain, when a hand pressed on my chest. I quickly gripped it causing someone to say "Hey hey, chill out! It's just me." I looked over to see that it was Dave, sitting next to my bed. I threw his hand off my body "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

He replied after pulling his hand back to his side, saying "Well someone had to watch over you after what happened, and it wasn't going to be anyone else. So I just stayed here." Everything flashed back into my head at once, and my face grew hot. "Oh…right." "I take it you remember what happened now?" "Yeah…"

Dave leaned back in the chair he pulled up, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes and groaned. I knew what he wanted me to say, and he wasted no time in trying to get me to say it. "I'm not saying it, so wipe that smug look off your face before I knock it the fuck off." "Karkat, you have to admit it. I was right, just say something like it and that'll be the end of this."

"I'm not saying shit, alright? The fact is that you had no proof they actually would do anything, so it wasn't exactly hard for me to believe that it was just a joke."

"Yeah? Well it wasn't. And if you just listened to me, this never would have happened in the first place!"

"And how the fuck was I supposed to know? When someone like YOU tells me something, it's usually some dumb bullshit that makes me look like an idiot. So trusting someone who continuously likes to play on my gullibility and trust like a complete tool and then just decides to start being an actual person isn't exactly at the top of my fucking to-do list."

He sat in his chair, not making a single sound and just staring down at the floor. My stare was directly at him, asking him to go ahead and try to explain himself. He looked up at me and said "…well you should have known." I fell back into my bed with a loud yell and dropped my arms next to me. It caused a shock of pain to surge through my head, and was an instant reminder that that night did happen. I continued none the less "Jesus Christ Strider, do you even hear yourself some times? Or does it just all come out like a fucking shit waterfall?"

"Hey, I'm so god damn sorry that I SAVED you from whatever they were doing to you!" He said standing up and beginning to raise his voice. That was basically an invitation for me to join. "Who said I even needed your he" "YOU did. When you called ME, remember?" My words failed me for a second, remembering my desperation.

I got my voice back pretty quickly though. "That was just because I didn't know what they were going to do, and you were the only person who I could call! So don't fucking flatter yourself." "Bullshit, Vantas! I was the only person that could have defended you and you knew that damn well."

"The only thing I knew was that you were open on my phone and I had to get help! That was it, Mr. High-and-Mighty!"

"Right, I'm sure that was it. And I'm sure you never thought about me once during that entire thing?"

"You know, you're not exactly the apex of my entire existence."

"I never said I was."

"You sure are talking like you are!"

"And you're saying I'm not?"

"Yes!"

"Then did you think about me or not?"

I stopped. I did remember specifically thinking about him. But that was just because he was the only one that knew about my situation, nothing more. Probably. "…like I said, it was just because you were the last person I talked to" "So you did." I flinched and bared my teeth, the blunt reality of it was almost painful. "Yes, Strider. I thought about you once or twice while I was getting my shit beat in. Are you happy now, you egotistical fuck?" "Yes, actually. And I'm not egotistical, I just wanted you to actually admit to something for once."

We both were still and silent for a little, contemplating what the other said. Dave dropped onto his chair, leaning back and crossing his arms again. He sighed and kept going "Look, I know I haven't been the best. I don't blame you for not believing me, but I honestly didn't want you to get hurt." I turned my head and grit my teeth, because part of me wanted to sympathize with the douche bag, but I didn't know if the other parts wanted to at all. "Okay, whatever. Thanks for helping me, now quit with all the mushy crap, it's going to make me vomit." I turned back over to face him and he had a slight smile on his face. "What the hell are you so giddy about?"

"To be honest, I wasn't expecting you to even acknowledge the fact that I helped you. Would have caught me off guard, if it was possible." I scoffed and threw a pillow at him "Oh fuck off, you narcissistic ass-wipe." He laughed after catching it, and I found that my anger was kind of gone. I could feel a smile coming onto my own face, which I quickly shut down by biting my tongue. This was getting too weird.

I coughed and said "What day is it?" He pulled out his phone and took a glance "It's Thursday, 4:13 P.M." That meant I was out for almost an entire day, and tomorrow was their gig. I couldn't be this roughed up for a performance. "Fuck, alright, tell everyone we're going to have practice tonight at 7 and"

"No."

I stopped mid sentence, my gaze turning into a glare pointed at him. "What." "No, you can't leave your bed, we're not having a practice." "Strider, this isn't your decision to make." "Considering I saw your wounds? Yeah it fucking is."

I wanted to battle this too, but in all honesty I was sick of fighting, so I just grunted and took whatever I could get. "Boy you sure are driving this "I care about you" bullshit right to fucking home plate, aren't you? Fine, we won't have a practice. But we are performing tomorrow." "I don't know about that, you looked pretty screwed up, man." "Do you know why I was beat? Because we apparently landed a gig with one of the most important people in this town, and they didn't want us stealing their thunder or some dumb bullshit. So if we bail, their mission was successful, and we wouldn't be hired fucking anywhere. This isn't up for debate."

He sighed and put on a concerned look, but eventually conceded "Alright, we'll play. But you better not push yourself too much, we don't have the money to put you in a hospital." I stuck my tongue out at him, mumbling some insults at him and starting to get out of my bed. "Woah, I don't know if you're ready for that yet, Tiny Tim." "I can fucking walk! Jesus, when did you turn into my father?"

He looked kind of stunned, but he shook his head and put up his hands, backing up to give me some room. My feet barely touched the floor and I shot an "I told you so" at Dave. But it was all downhill once I stood up. I was able to walk, but a simple twitch of some chest/face muscle would cause me to yell out in pain, let alone using one exclusively. Dave began walking towards me, saying "Hey, you proved me wrong, now get back on the bed before you eat shit."

"If you touch me I'm going to skin you alive!" I yelled, but right after I got really dizzy. My vision got a bit fade and I reached out for a wall or anything really. Dave grabbed my arm and held me up, even though I was almost slumping. I stayed silent, not wanting to say a single word. I could feel his smirk on me, and I knew he was getting so much enjoyment out of this. "So, back to your bed then?" I nodded with a huff, crossing my arms. He easily picked me up and dropped me on my bed lightly.

I soon fell asleep again, trying to get away from the pain searing in my body. But for some reason, I just really didn't want to. And what scared me more than anything, was that it might have to do with Dave.


	8. Chapter 8

**Dave: Watch Over Karkat**

There he went, sleeping again. I couldn't help but chuckle, he was always so angry…but when he was tired, he was out like a virgin at a strip club. It was a weird satisfaction, to see someone go from flipping out and desperately trying to hurt your feelings to curled up in a ball and sleeping like a child. I almost wanted to sit there and watch him for a little.

But that would be beyond weird.

So I stood up and began examining his weirdly compact room piece by piece, sheerly out of boredom. Odds are he wouldn't be up for a few hours so I didn't have to worry about him catching me. I started with his desk, pulling my chair over next to it and rummaging through his drawers, wow that sounded dirty. I pulled out the drawers and placed them on my lap one at a time, looking through them and trying to find something incriminating. To be honest, I was let down. There wasn't anything but pencils, and I would have expected him to have a diary or something…until I found something weird. "Huh?" I thought out loud, when the last drawer wouldn't come out. A locked drawer…there had to be something good in there.

I looked through the drawers again to find two safety clips, straightening one completely and the other halfway, and started working at the lock. I was halfway through when a loud ring came from his computer, almost scaring the clips right out of my hands. I got back up into my chair and wiggled the mouse a little to get the screensaver off, and there was some sort of username messaging his computer. So I looked into it a bit further:

AG: Karkat!

AG: Karkaaaaaaaat!

AG: I know this is your account, Vantas.

AG: Fine, don't answer me!

AG: 8ut I heard what happened with that cover 8and, and I was just checking to m8ke sure you were dead or at least injured.

AG: Karma's a 8itch, isn't it :::;)

AG: And if you think she's done there, you've got some interesting d8ys ahead of you!

And that was where they stopped sending messages. There were a lot of questions following that, like one being what the hell was wrong with them that they typed like that? Weird. Either way, how did they find out about that cover band thing so fast? It hasn't even been a full day, and the only people who know about this are people in the band. Someone must have leaked it. I thought I was out of the whole "Gossip everything" stage, but whatever.

I'd look into it later, I had a drawer to open. I got back down to it and started working at the lock on it again. After quite a long time of fidgeting the clips and cussing silently, there was a click that shot satisfaction through me like a tidal wave. I yanked it open and almost got the prize of seeing what was in the drawer, when all I saw was a piece of paper near the top. There was something underneath it, that much was obvious, but there was also writing on the paper. It read;

"If you're reading this, then you are officially the lowest of low. It's locked for a reason, dipshit, and if you're stealing things then go somewhere else, because this is all I have anymore. Think about your fucking priorities before you rip off this paper without a care. But if you really want to continue, I probably can't stop you because if I could I would have."

And that was it. Guilt flooded my body and my stomach curled and felt queasy. I quickly closed the drawer, and then realized I had no way of locking it again. _Shit, this was dumb. This was really fucking dumb, he'll never forgive me and he DEFINITELY won't believe me if I say I didn't look underneath the paper. _I jumped up and started putting everything back to the way it was, and made sure everything was as neat as he left it. I just had to make it look like I didn't look through anything and maybe I could play it off as the cover band went searching through everything. And with that, I heard grunting and noises that were obviously Karkat getting up. So I jumped to my chair and leaned back in it, pretending to look out the window.

I don't think I ever was that nervous in my entire life.

* * *

**Author's Note (Number): Ey, it's been a while since I updated, but shit's been hitting the fan over here! This chapter may not be the best, but I'm almost done with this prequel thing and then I can actually start doing the whole "BAND SINGS" bullshlaka. For those who stuck with this and read this far, you have my respect. I'll probably be updating more, but for now, latersss**

**-mountainswan**


	9. Chapter 9

**Karkat: Get up…Again**

I of course was having another nightmare. It was pretty common at this point, because there was a lot on my mind after all. Either way, it wasn't exactly an _enjoyable_ experience, as obvious as that would be, so I tried to escape my "dream" as fast as possible. Around the end of it I started being able to move my body in the real world, at least I was pretty sure. Then,I eventually woke myself up and when I looked over the side of my bed I saw that my computer was on a messaging screen and Dave was looking out the window.

As soon as I started looking around, my head started to hurt and throb again and I grabbed the throbbing spot. I grunted out as I held my probably concussed skull, which caused myself to gather the attention of Dave. He turned around to me and looked surprised to see I was up "Oh, you're finally up again huh?"

"What do you think…ugh, what time is it?" I said, closing my eyes and gritting my teeth. I just wanted to get out of the bed and…do something, I guess. "It's almost 6, are you feeling alright man?" "Strider. I just got the shit kicked out of me not more than a day ago, to say I'm feeling alright would be such an overstatement tha-OW!" I smacked my head against my temple in an attempt to dull the still present pressure, So yelling was a no go too? Perfect.

"Alright alright, it was just a question. And is your head really hurting that bad?" He said with a small inescapable smirk on his face. I could tell he was enjoying, even if it was an abysmal amount, the whole "I can't do anything" situation I was in. "Yes, it really does hurt that fucking bad. Can you just make yourself useful and, get me some ice or something?" He turned to look at my desk briefly, and then nodded "No problem, just stay in bed alright?" And with that, he was gone.

The moment I couldn't see him anymore, I swung my legs over the mattress and breathed in heavily. The last time I did this, it didn't go too well, but that look made me too curious to just sit there like an inebriated fool. I started standing up, and it felt fine except for the mild pain in my head. I put my weight on my one foot, and that was fine too, so why not start walking? I was finally able to will myself to begin walking towards my computer. There were a few stumbles, which I assume were because my balance was off, but I made it none the less. I plopped down into my chair and brought myself closer to the screen, reading the messages.

"AG, huh…" I thought out loud, not recognizing the name at first. But everything about what was being said, made me think that whoever it was had to have it out for me. And they'd have to be batshit insane for typing like that. But how did they find out my account? Not to mention the fact she knew that a cover band paid me a visit. Someone in the band was leaking out shit to another person, and considering the effects of it I'd have to find out who it was soon. I exited out of the messaging screen, and wondered what else that douche looked at while I was passed out. I started checking the drawers, and before I got to them all, I heard Dave coming back.

I mumbled out a curse and ran back into my bed, hating myself instantly for moving that much. "Dude, your fridge is awesome" he started saying, walking into my room "it has this little thing that dispenses ice how you want it to." "It is _my _fridge, dumb ass." He scowled at me, throwing the bag of ice at me. It hit me rather hard, causing me to grunt out and flip him off. He shook his head and fell back into the chair. I put the bag up to my temple, watching Dave spin around on the chair with a thoughtful expression on his face.

He looked like he had a question to ask, but obviously I could barely tell because this jerk-off's big dumb shades were hiding everything but his mouth and nose almost. But apparently I was right, because he quickly said "Karkat, I have something to ask you." I groaned and sat up more, looking over at him and raising my eyebrows. "Well, I was just wondering if you…" he stopped out almost at random and my stomach did a flip "If you know someone with a user name of AG?"

For some reason I was disappointed.

"Where the fuck did that come from?" I said with bitterness, because I was expecting something more from the ass hole. I didn't really know what, but just something bigger. "I was just curious...what's with the attitude?" "Are you fucking kidding me. Let me strap you down to a chair, beat the fuck out of you, then search through all of your things without a care in the god damn world, then we'll see how happy you are." I instantly felt kind of bad, because I did over exaggerate what he probably did in all reality.

"…you found out already?" "Duh. You left my computer on the messaging screen, idiot." I went to glare at him, but he honestly had guilt all over his face. "It's not a big deal, Strider. It was just a few messag" "I'm sorry alright, I don't know what got over me but I just searched through all your shit and it wasn't cool of me to do and I swear I didn't look at it!" "Didn't look at what? What the hell is wrong with you?"

He didn't respond at first, realizing what he was doing I assumed. He let his now tense shoulders relax, and he just coughed and said "Nothing, never mind." I've never seen him lose his cool like that before, and honestly it made me more curious than before. I kept myself elevated and glared at him. He didn't seem to respond, and he just pushed his hair over. I wanted to press him on it, but he didn't exactly seem like he would just say it, and I wasn't in any condition to threaten him. I just huffed and got out of my bed, walking towards my door.

"Come on, we've been over this. You can't walk yet." "Fuck off, I already know I can. It wasn't like they broke my legs" I grumbled, shuffling out the door. I heard the chair in my room squeak and then footsteps coming towards me. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a fucking 5 year old that needs supervision every single second" I called out, knowing he was almost behind me. "Well you sure don't show it" he said with a chuckle. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" "Well it could mean two things, pending on whether you mean it physically or mentally." I stopped and turned towards him "I didn't think you even knew what those words meant." "Well I do, and this shit's more complex than a 12x12 Rubik cube." I started to speak, but I quickly realized how useless that was and turned back around.

There was a lot more bickering between us during the short walk to my TV, which managed to make me almost kill him about 5 times. I sat on my relatively small couch that was surprisingly comfortable if it was your first time sitting on it. But for me, it was just a familiar sense to sit on that thing with my legs under me. It had three cushions, one for each member of my family when we were all together. But now I just took my cushion and turned on the flat screen. Dave stepped in and stayed standing up, looking at the screen with me. The fucker was so distracting, he would just stand there and never make a noise…so maybe he wasn't distracting in the conventional sense, but he was distracting me.

After a few minutes of this, I just groaned and said "Just sit down already, you're going to make me have a god damn aneurism." "Nah, I'm fine." "I don't remember _asking_ you. Sit down."

"As opposed to sitting up?"

I slowly turned my head towards him, my Are-You-Fucking-Kidding-Me level reaching new heights. I pointed towards the cushion two down from me "Put your ass there before I literally hit you with every-fucking-thing I own." He chuckled, satisfied that he made me angry yet again, and sat down in the cushion I pointed out. Once again, I was weirdly disappointed that he did that, even though I had no idea what I _wanted_ him to do. This was getting irritating to say the least.

But that was how we spent the night, sitting a cushion away from each other and yelling at each other when one of us wanted to watch something the other didn't. We ended up settling on some dumb movie marathon on this horror channel. Even though everything sucked on the screen, and he made me infuriated every time he pointed something out, it was actually enjoyable. I don't remember exactly how that night ended, but all I know is that that one cushion space became something I hated.


	10. Chapter 10

**Karkat: Play Your First Gig**

"Where the fuck is John?" I yell at Jade as she pulls up in her pickup truck, with the drum set in the back. We were all in the front of the house with a big banner that said Happy Birthday in all these weird colors and shit, and all of our stuff was set up except for John's. "I don't know, I texted him an hour ago and he said he'd be here" she said, starting to carry pieces of the set to the backyard.

"Dave, you know this fuck head more than me, where is he?" He just shrugged and I wanted to scream. It wasn't his fault but I was losing my mind here. "What time is it?" "We've got about 10 minutes before the party actually starts." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, pacing in the yard continuously. Dave was trying to talk to me but I was just not in the mood right now.

"Alright. We're just going to have to assume he's not going to be here, so that automatically cancels out any songs with big piano parts." "So like 60% of our songs." I bit my lip as he said that, and he was right. We sought out songs so that Egbert almost always had something big, like the rest of us. What a great idea. "Strider, stay here in case John does come. I'll go do…something." He nodded with a look of concern on his face, but it wasn't his job to be concerned.

"Jade, how's the set looking?" I said, walking into the backyard where there were tables everywhere. Whoever this kid was, they sure knew a lot of people. "It's lookin' good, Karkat! I just need to set up some cymbals and we'll be good! Did you locate John yet?" "No, he's just fucking off the map right now" I said tapping my microphone, making sure it was working. I would have checked Dave's equipment, but that would be like touching someone's organs without checking for approval. At least that's what he said.

It was right about then when I realized how nervous I was, after I tugged on my black long sleeve for the 10th time already. I always wore jeans and a long sleeve, you could say I liked people avoiding me completely. Either way, my stomach really made me understand what people mean when they say they have butterflies in their stomachs.

Except in my case, they stopped being butterflies and they were now fully fledged birds trying to get out.

_It's just a lawn party, calm down. There aren't that many people, besides about 100 kids and apparently a tycoon of starting bands which will either make or break your entire possible career of music. Yeah._

I could start to hear car doors close, and teenagers started pouring into the yard. They were all just talking and laughing after sitting down, and I could really feel the heat at this point. It was really a nice day, but weather was the least of my concerns. I just wanted to walk out of here and reconsider if we were ready, but they all started taking notice of our presence there, and they started pointing and murmuring.

We were obviously not going to be the first thing that happened at the party, and we just watched them all do things for a real long while. I guess I could calm down a little since we weren't playing yet, but that wouldn't really be something I would do. Then, Dave appeared, without John, and started walking over to me.

When he got close to me, he basically whispered "John said he'll be here soon, he got caught up with something." "That motherfucking…fine, whatever. Just get to your things; we'll have to play everything we have without a piano until he comes here." He jumped over to the stand full of buttons and turn tables and knobs and just a lot of bullshit. He also had a guitar leaning on the stand, in case he had time to jump to a rhythm part. It was risky as fuck, and he wasn't the best at guitar so I didn't know WHY we settled on that, but necessity breeds creativity I guess.

A big man in a suit walked out now, with a very proud smile over his beard. He looked over the group and saw that we were there, and he made his way over to us. "So, this is the up and coming 'Dead And Walking', eh? Pleasure to meet you all!" "Yes, uh, I'm Karkat" he shook my hand roughly within seconds of me saying my name and then shook everyone's hand after.

The way he said all of this made me just really freaked out about the whole thing. He seemed to have a lot of pride in a band that was playing music for free and without any prior experience or knowledge playing out. "Now, are you guys ready to play? We've got a bunch of angsty kids out there ready to hear some music!" "Uh…w-well, um" "Yes sir, we are!" Jade called out, interrupting my rather interesting answer. I shot a look back over to her, and she nodded to her right, showing a piano. John was coming in through the fucking bushes.

So the man took the mic off the stand and called out "Alright ladies and gents! For your listening pleasure, we have a little band called Dead And Walking, and I'm sure they can provide the music you all desire." He let his hand drift so that it was presenting us as he handed me the microphone. He looked me straight in the eyes and it was a look that meant that if we didn't play well, there would be some serious shit.

I looked back and John was now there, plugging in his piano and shrugging to me. I sighed heavily and grabbed my guitar, slipping into the straps and setting a mental reminder to kick John's ass. I cleared my throat and grabbed the microphone, looking out into the crowd of weirdly silent people. "Well. As he said, we are Dead And Walking, and we've got a lotta shit lined up for you guys, so…yeah."

I backed up from the stand and gathered everyone "First up is going to be Vampire Money to set the tone, anyone have any complaints?" I looked around and no one said anything, so I nodded. "Good" I walked back over to the mic, feeling queasy and maybe even light headed, but I got ready to play none the less.

Jade started the song with stick clicks, and then started going at it. The power of the drums sent waves of sound, which obviously got their attention, so I figured why not use it while I have it, as I spoke the first part;

_Well are you ready Dave? _

_Yeah_

_How 'bout you Jade?_

_All night baby_

_How about you John_

_Fuckin Ready!_

_Well I think I'm alright_

_1,2,3,4!_

We all started playing now, my fingers flying to the power chords and everyone else jamming out on their own. This was it now, no turning back. I took in a deep breath, tightened my core, and let out the notes as best as I could as the first verse came up.

_3,2,1_

_We came to fuck_

_Everybody party till the gas man comes_

_Sparkle like Bowie in the morning sun_

_And get a parking violation on La Brea until it's done_

_Hair back, collar up, Jet Black, so cool!_

_Sing it like the kids that are mean to you _

_Come on!_

The simple jump into the chorus was nothing, and seeing people start to pay even more attention to us was really all I could ask for.

_When you wanna be a movie star_

_Play the game and take the band real far_

_Play it right and drive a Volvo car_

_Pick a fight in an air port bar!_

_The kids don't care if you're alright honey_

_Pills don't help but it sure is funny_

_Gimmie gimmie some of that Vampire Money _

_Come on!_

While it was nerve racking, seeing all those people jumping around and lip synching just gave me a rush I couldn't describe. As we left the chorus and started the bridge, everything I've worried about and everything that held me back just kind of faded away. I took a deep breath and continued the song after indulging in the thought.

_Well a 3,2,1_

_We got the bomb_

_Everybody hurry till the tax man comes_

_Glimmer like Bolan in the morning son_

_And get your finger on the trigger_

_Tip the barrel of the gun_

_Hair back motherfucker_

_Jet Black, so cool!_

_Sing it like the kids that are mean to you!_

And we went into another chorus, which were all the same. I looked back at everyone, and they were all so focused, yet limber. Like Jade was just hammering away, but she still had a smile. And Dave, well, he didn't look like he was having trouble. Same with John. And I'd assume it would be the same with me, until the shock of 'We're about to do the solo' hit me.

_Gimmie gimmie some of that Vampire Money_

_Come on!_

It was starting to climb and the drums were going crazy in the back, in the best way possible.

_That's right…_

_1,2,3,4_

My fingers went towards the beginning of the neck and started flying around the fret board like it was breathing. I couldn't help but smile as the notes all came out with the crazy solo, and the crowd was really getting into it now. I even heard a few whistles and screams as it happened. Eventually it finished back at the power chords, and it faded back into the first verse.

_3,2,1_

_We came to fuck_

_Everybody party till the gas man comes_

_Sparkle like Bowie in the morning sun_

_And get a parking violation on La Brea until it's done_

_Hair back, collar up, Jet Black, so cool!_

_Sing it like the kids that are mean to you _

_Come on!_

The last chorus came and went as if it was a breeze, and then came the ending, which was a personal favorite of mine, where each time I said there, there would be another hit.

_Come on!_

_Come on!_

_Come on!_

_Come on!_

_Come on!_

_There, there, there, there, there!_

Now I just started ripping on the strings, while speaking the last part.

_This party_

_I think it's way too loud_

_Gonna have to turn it down a little_

_Sorry_

Then, with a jump in the air and a down strum, everything hit and sounded out for what felt like an eternity. For a moment I stayed still, scared if I moved everyone would attack us. But then there was just applause and cheering for us. Even the man in the suit was clapping, and I was scared he was going to bust us a new one for cursing so much. I slowly relaxed and fully stood up, motioning to the rest of the band. "So I take it we weren't that bad" I said to Dave, and he just nodded and walked to the middle of all of us, and I followed after.

"So, what are we doing now?" Jade said, breathing a bit heavy but enthusiastic none the less. "Maybe we should do a completely different song just to contrast it?" said John, crossing his arms. "I don't think that's a big concern, these guys are just Teenagers…yeah let's do that." I said, and everyone picked up on it. They all seemed to like MCR enough. I walked over to my place and cleared my throat again, and continued what is and will always be, the best night I've ever had.

* * *

**Author's Note (Idk): I hope that wasn't too bad for y'all, and in case you wanted to know the song's "Vampire Money" by My Chemical Romance. plus I obviously own the song in no way therefore will take no credit for it. Either way, this prequel thing's almost over and the next chapter in the series is somethin' I'm working on as we speak! Either way, this has been fun as hell to write, and will continue to be! Catcha later!**

**-themountainswan**


	11. Chapter 11

**Karkat: End This Night**

"Alright, that's it for us" I said in between breaths into the mic, hanging onto the stand for support "you guys have been quite a fucking great crowd, so thank you all and good night!" They all cheered to our surprise, and then were ushered into the house. We started packing up our things when a hand roughly jarred my left shoulder.

I jumped and my head flew over to face who it was, when I realized it was just the man who hired us. He had a big smile on his face and was chuckling, which I guess was because he scared me successfully. Asshole. "That was a great show you all performed out there! Really, bravo!" We all turned to him and nodded, saying our thanks and everything.

He looked around and wasted no time in asking "So, how long have you all been in the business?" Dave was the first to give a reply "Us? Well, actually a really long time. But this is our first time playing in public." His eyes widened almost instantly after he said that "You've got to be kidding. That was incredible for your first time, probably better than some of the other dimwits I gave record deals!" He then laughed a hearty laugh, which we all joined out of slight uncomfortability I assumed.

"Now, in all seriousness, I want to see you all go far because damn was my kid happy today, and even I enjoyed myself. A friend of mine is going to be at the Party Pub next Friday. I can land you a spot there, if you all feel that you're ready. If not, well, we'll just have to see! Singer" My head twitched up and I listened carefully "you have my number, so just call when you've all determined what you want. And with that, I'll let you all go! Great performance, once again." Now he was gone and we were all left looking at each other with blank expressions. I couldn't help but think that that man had a deeper mindset than just helping us out.

Either way, I was the first to talk about the night "So that was actually pretty enjoyable." "Seriously! I've never had so much fun!" Jade said, looking around with a huge smile, why I was even bothering to check if she was happy at this point was unknown to me. "Yeah it was, but I think we have something big to talk about right now. Two things actually" Dave said, pulling us back into the reality of things surprisingly fast. I wasn't sure what caused the change in heart, but he did have a point. "Right. Band meeting at the usual spot, right now. EVERYONE" I emphasized, looking at John "has to show. I'll see you all there." They all nodded, and I carried my mic/amp over to my car, throwing it in and closing the door.

I turned on the radio and began my small drive to the music store. I looked around at the almost barren town I was driving through, because at night it seemed like this place just stopped moving. All the lights and signs were always up and glowing, but the people just faded away until the next day really. It was actually kind of peaceful, driving through all the little patches of forest and stretches of buildings without everyone taking all the beauty.

But as I was thinking that, almost out of nowhere, my head had a flow of searing pain and I had to pull over halfway to the place. I groaned out in pain as I gripped my throbbing temples, trying to press the pain away. I started to see in almost double vision, and I curled my head under my arms. _This wasn't good_, I thought as my brain made the connection of my possible concussion to that. It probably didn't bother me because of adrenaline or something, but now it was a fucking bitch. It all just hurt so much, and during the entire thing I was getting flashbacks to each punch of that dreary night. It felt almost suffocating, and terrifying.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck this is not good at all. Maybe if I just lay down or something I can…god damn it. Just relax, calm your breathing, fucking chill out, _I kept thinking to myself, trying to get myself to listen. I had to wait this out, I was pretty sure it would fade away if I just sat long enough.

I stayed like that until it slowly decreased into just a whisper of pain, leaving me in a ball breathing heavily. I slowly brought my head up and looked around, and everything seemed to be fine now. I checked the time, and it was about 10 minutes. _Someone's going to say something, I know it. _I took a deep breath and put my head lightly on the wheel. "Alright, everything's fine now…it's all good" I said out loud, hitting the wheel softly and then continuing to drive, pushing what just happened as far away from conscious thought.

When I made it to the store, I walked in with a twist in my gut. Whoever leaked out all that stuff was going to be shown tonight, and I wasn't sure if I knew what to do after. I'd probably punch them. But within minutes of entering the practice room, I was instantly told off by whom other than John "I thought you said right then, Karkat!" I spun towards him and started yelling "I am in absolutely NO fucking mood for your shit, and if you want to talk about people being late, why don't you go ahead and look in a mirror at your fucking unreliable dumb worthless ass! If you think me being 15 minutes late because of my `probable concussion outweighs you being over 2 HOURS late, then you've got another fucking thing coming!" I obviously was not having whatever he was going on about, and he quickly shut up with a small apology. I opened my mouth to try and explain myself, but for some reason I figured he needed it.

Dave looked over at me "Wait, what about a concussion?" "Calm down there, oh loyal protector, it's nothing. Probably nothing," He crossed his arms and scoffed, causing me to just continue "You said we have two things to talk about, so you might want to get to it."

"Yeah, right. First up, we can get a gig at one of the best spots in the town, but only if we're ready. I'd rather stay where we are, rather than go there doubtful and ruin everything. So anyone who feels like we aren't ready for this, raise your hand now." Everyone looked around, and no one had a hand raised. Good, at least that wasn't going to turn into something.

"Alright, shorty here'll get the information later" Dave said as I huffed, continuing after taking a long sigh. "Now, I'm not one for sugar coating shit, so basically someone in this band has been leaking information out to someone else. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but whoever they told definitely had it out for Vantas so this is really a big fucking deal, so whoever did it just come out and say it."

I waited for someone to at least say who they told, yet no one said anything. All that was known was that I didn't tell anyone anything, and it was safe to assume that Dave didn't either, but even he was subject for questioning. After a minute or two of this, I got irritated and lashed out "Alright, so that's how this is going to fucking be? Just gonna keep your mouths shut and protect whoever the hell did this? One of you is saying something to someone and it's not helping anyone, in fact quite the fucking opposite, so if you could just not be shits about it and speak up, that'd be fucking fantastic." Jade had a worried expression on her face, and she quickly said "Karkat, I wouldn't ever do that! I haven't told anyone anything, and I would bet my heart and soul on it!"

To be honest, I wasn't really sure if I should believe her yet out of fairness. But Dave decided to take it on to himself to free her of judgement "Alright, we believe you." Fucking idiot, when did he start being in control? And when was it a "we"? I was about to ask these things, but it came to me rather quickly that John hadn't said a single thing this entire time after his first comment. "Hey John" I said walking right in front of him and staring him down "what about you? Have you said anything to anyone?" He didn't answer, and instead turned his head away from me slightly.

Dave walked over now "John? You can't be serious…" He bit his lip and tapped his hand on his leg erratically. It was basically his way of admitting it, without actually saying anything. "Who did you tell" I asked, crossing my arms and glaring. "I-It doesn't matter, I won't do it again."

"No, who the FUCK did you tell?" I said, grabbing his shirt collar and making his eyes meet mine.

"It doesn't fucking matter!" He spat out, a face of guilt and regret on his face right after. I clenched my hands into fists, but then just scoffed and pushed away from him. It wasn't worth my time. "Karkat, I'm sorry, I just..." "Whatever. Just Don't tell whoever it was again, and don't be late to the next gig, because if anything happens. I'm personally going to beat the shit out of you. I'll send you all the time and place as soon as possible." I said with a large feeling of just pure anger towards John. How the hell could someone do something like that, and not even have the god damn courtesy to say who he told? But then again when was it such a crime to say "Oh our band's going to play here and we're good"? Never, until all this shit happened, making everything complicated.

I walked out in a huff, bursting out of the door and instantly going to where my car was. A feeling ripped through me like a hurricane, and to my dismay I pinned it as guilt. I felt bad for flipping out on John like that, but why? HE was the one that told someone about the gig and everything, he _deserved _it…didn't he?

I had no idea, and quite honestly I was done with all this stress. I got in my car and slammed the door with a grunt, putting my head down on the wheel for a little. The pure silence was soothing in a sense, but also kind of terrifying in another. Maddening, even. I turned the key when someone knocked on the passenger seat window. It was Dave, and he was saying something along the lines of "Hey, open up dumb ass,"

I rolled down the window and grumbled an angry "What the hell do you want?" He leaned on the door, sticking his head in and not answering for a few seconds. He always did that. "I'm making sure you're alright, you left that place pretty pissed man." "Well I'm sorry I didn't walk out there like I just found a fucking unicorn and a pot of gold, did I let you all down?" He bit his lip and started audibly tapping the tip of his shoe on the tire. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend y" "Yeah? Well, you did. Look, I'm in a fucking horrible mood, and I don't want to yell again right now. I'll talk to you later."

I pulled out of the parking spot and closed the window, not wanting to see his face when I was driving out into the street. In all honesty, I wasn't looking forward to being at my house. It would be the first time I was there after Dave stayed, whether that was a good or bad thing to me I never found out. But I needed to be alone…I didn't want to cause more problems. I was sick of problems.


	12. Chapter 12

**John: Feel Like Shit**

"John. What's going on with you lately?" Jade asked, sitting next to me on the ground using the wall as support. I bit my lip and stared down at the ground for a few seconds, before I spat out my frustration "I just told her about the band! I had no idea what was going to happen, and if I did I would change it, alright?" She looked stunned that I said something, and I realized quickly it was because I said "her". I was about to give a cover up for it, but I didn't have the energy to lie, especially not to her. She looked weirdly disappointed, scratching the back of her neck and then saying "I, um…I didn't mean that, John. I meant how can you still not tell Karkat who you told? Don't you see how dangerous this is?" She put a hand on my shoulder, which would have been able to calm me on any other day. But not today, this was something where just a comforting pap wouldn't solve everything.

"It's…it's too late now! I won't tell her anything anymore, or anyone for that matter. Telling him who I told won't take back what happened! I'll just keep silent, isn't that enough?" She sighed, looking for the words to say. "Yes, I assume so. I guess that is all you can do now, besides apologize." I chuckled, standing up "Right, Karkat will just stop hating me because I said I'm sorry with big puppy dog eyes." "It works for me!" She said quickly, her smile radiating through the room. "That's cause you're adorable. But I have to go either way, there's some stuff I have to take care of." "…alrighy. And John" she paused, causing me to turn in suspense "be careful?" "I will" I said with a smile, probably fake at that point, and then made my way out.

_Alright, alright, you'll be fine. Just never tell anyone anything, and apologize to Karkat once it's been a few days…which'll probably only make things worse. But at least he'll know that you didn't mean anything. _

Just as I finished my thought, I nearly crashed into Dave because of my drifting thoughts. I muttered an apology and began walking almost instantly after, not wanting to face him. I didn't feel like getting stared down by a pair of shades, and I knew he had something to say to me. Honestly, I wasn't sure what was up with him but he's just acting so differently recently so I didn't want to get into that.

What I did have to get into, is why telling someone one thing caused all of this. Why would she get someone to hurt Karkat? It just didn't make sense to me and I wanted to get it to make sense already. So, I left the music store and pulled out my phone. I got to her contact and texted her saying "hey, it's john, can we talk at your place? if it's not a problem" After a few seconds of standing there, I got a reply saying "If we must, then who am I to refuse, Come on down!" That reply kind of set my thinking off balance, like she really didn't want to talk…but we had to, so I just disregarded it.

Either way, I started walking down to her house and thinking about what would I even say to her. _Well, I just came here to ask you why you sent a group of crazy people to kill Karkat_ _and to ask you politely to never do that again, thanks!_ Like that would go over well. I didn't even know if she actually DID anything, so I couldn't be blunt with it. I just had to wing it, and hopefully that'd be enough.

My stomach twisted a bit more with each step, paranoia working its magic on me as I dived into the thought of her actually hurting Karkat. I wanted to just say "There's no way she would do that to anyone" and go home, but I didn't really know. I've only known her for a few weeks now, and while I've told her most everything about me, she's been pretty secretive with who she is. The only thing I knew was her name and the fact that she loves talking in cliffhangers almost. She's said "You'll see" more times than I could count, and that's not even the worst of them. To anyone else, it probably would have sent them into madness. But yet, here I was, walking to her to probably only get more of them.

Then, as if it was a block away from the store, her house was just in front of me. I didn't even remember making the walk, but I knew that now I was out of thinking time. I coughed and swallowed hard, knocking on the door and then quickly readjusting my position. I was never this nervous before, and I debated turning around when the door opened wide, showing her in her short shorts and a tank top. Her black hair easily went past her hips and she had this smirk that seemed to be on her blue lips every time I saw her. "Hey there, John! Come on in, I've got some beers opened on the table, so I expect some great stories about your band!" I didn't respond at first, maybe hesitation or because I was staring at her, I had no idea. But after a few seconds I snapped out of it, walking into the house and closing the door behind me. "Right, well, I've got something to tell you in all seriousness actually" I called out after her as she walked into her kitchen. After a little bit, she walked back over and swung her arms around my neck, kissing me lightly and then saying "Well then spill it already! Here in the Serket house, we _never _hold back."


End file.
